Nationality English Died 25 November 1324 | Spouse(s) Matilda fitz Thomas Parents Guy Botetourt | |
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Sir John de Botetourt, 1st Baron Botetourt (died 1324) was an English military commander and admiral in the 13th and 14th centuries.
John was born the illegitimate son of Guy Botetourt circa 1265. He married Matilda fitz Thomas, daughter of Sir Thomas fitz Otes and Beatrice de Beauchamp. He was the Governor of St Briavels Castle in 1291, became the Admiral for the Northern Seas between 1294 and 1297, burning Cherbourg in 1295, and created 1st Lord Botetourt on 13 July 1305. In 1304 he received a commission under the great seal to hear and determine the causes of a violent quarrel between the mayor and burgesses of Bristol and Lord Thomas of Berkeley and his son Maurice. He was the warden of the Forest of Dene. He fought in the expeditions of King Edward I to Gascony, Scotland and during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He was summoned to parliament from 1305 to 1324. He joined Guy Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, in carrying off Piers Gaveston from the custody of the Earl of Pembroke, and, in common with the other nobles concerned in the death of the favourite, made his peace with the king in 1313. He was appoointed the Governor of Framlingham Castle in 1314. He was again the Admiral for the Northern Seas in 1315. John participated in the Battle of Boroughbridge on 16 March 1322, on the side of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster's rebels. He was then fined £1,000 and pardoned on 8 October 1322 for his part in the rebellion. He died on 25 November 1324, his grandson John succeeded him as Baron Botetourt, as his son Thomas predeceased him.
John and Matilda fitz Thomas had the following known issue: